Social characteristics of New Hampshire, comparisons to other states

Most of the stuff discussed in this forum revolve around political interests, and political action.
What follows is an attempt to characterize NH based on other parameters as well.

Back in the time of COVID, it seemed like the Christian churches took the lead wrt assemblies of more than a certain number of people. Obviously this was important for attendance at weekly religious assemblies. We often here about “Bible Belt” resistance to liberty. So I wondered, what is the religious profile of NH, compared to other states.

The United States is (at least used to be) forbidden to ask questions about religious affiliation. I have therefore looked elsewhere for data for the 50 states about religious affiliation. The following is taken from Alabama – American Values Atlas

States with a Christian population above 80% are
92% Mississippi
85% Arkansas
84% Alabama
83% Louisiana
83% South Carolina
82% South Dakota
81% Nebraska

At the other end of the spectrum, states with less than 60% of the population Christian are
59% New Hampshire
57% Washington
53% Oregon
51% Ohio

States with more than 30% of the population “unaffiliated” are
37% Oregon
35% New Hampshire
33% Washington
32% Vermont

States with less than 15% “unaffiliated” are
14% Louisiana
13% Arkansas
11% Alabama
10% Mississippi

Educational attainment is a little more complicated. I believe the data refer to adults, that is, over 18.

States in which more than 50% of the population have a high school education or less are
56% West Virginia
56% Kentucky
53% Oklahoma
53% Maine
51% Louisiana

States in which more than 70% have more than a high school education are
77% New Hampshire
75% Vermont
73% Maryland
72% North Dakota
72% Oregon
71% Massachusetts

Regardless of what the laws are, how do the people feel about some issues?

For instance, How do people in the several states vary in their views about same-sex marriage?

States in which more than 75% of the people favor same-sex marriage
81% Massachusetts
81% Vermont
80% Connecticut
78% Washington
76% Nevada
76% New Jersey

Note that New Hampshire is not in the above list. However, it misses it by just a little. Three states have a 75% approval rating: Alaska, New Hampshire, and Oregon

But, we cannot assume that the rest of the people in a state oppose same-sex marriage, as the polling has a category of “Don’t Know/Refused”, which can be as high as 6%.

Opposition to same-sex marriage is always below 50%. States where more than 45% oppose same-sex marriage are
47% Alabama
47% Arkansas
46% Mississippi

Regardless of how they personally feel, how do people think about other people’s rights to adhere to their own religious beliefs?

States that have a favorable attitude toward religiously based refusals to serve gay and lesbian people, above 50% of the people, are
56% Nebraska
55% South Dakota
53% Idaho
52% Missouri
52% Montana

States where opposition to religiously based refusals to serve gay and lesbian people is above 65% are
75% Massachusetts
73% Hawaii
70% New York
70% Connecticut
66% Oregon
66% New Jersey

Question: In a Free State, where do we draw the line? Do we allow people to adhere to their religious beliefs and refuse to serve gay and lesbian people based on religious beliefs?
Or do we insist on forcing those with strong religious beliefs against serving gay and lesbian people to violate those religious beliefs?

New Hampshire tends toward the latter, with 38% favoring the right to refuse service to gay and lesbian people based on religious beliefs, and 62 opposed.

Note: All of the above data comes from PRRI, the Public Religion Research Institute, for 2023. Polling is conducted annually.

The influence of religion in the U.S. is undeniable. But there are some movements that go even further. One of these is the Christian Nationalism movement, which seeks to make the US an explicitly Christian nation.

States in which more than 50% of the people completely or mostly agree that US laws should be based on Christian values are
59% North Dakota
56% Alabama
55% Kentucky
55% West Virginia
54% South Carolina
54% Louisiana
53% South Dakota
52% Tennessee
52% Arkansas
52% Oklahoma
51% Wyoming

States in which more than 65% of people mostly or completely disagree that U.S. laws should be based on Christian values are
73% Oregon
73% Massachusetts
69% Nevada
67% Washington
67% New York
66% Hawaii
66% New Jersey

In New Hampshire 38 completely or mostly agree, 60% mostly or completely disagree.